{"id":87113,"date":"2026-09-03T10:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/87113\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:54:12","slug":"sydney-harbour-bridge-pylons-lit-up-in-purple-to-honour-18-year-old-bushwalker-lily-hooper-who-died-while-hiking-in-nsw-bushland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/87113\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons lit up in purple to honour 18-year-old bushwalker Lily Hooper, who died while hiking in NSW bushland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Harbour Bridge pylons have been lit up in purple as 18-year-old bushwalker Lily Hooper’s family laid her to rest on Thursday after her body was recovered in a National Park in the south-west of Sydney.<\/p>\n

A large crowd of young people congregated at a chapel in Sydney\u2019s southwest on Thursday to bid farewell the \u201cfearless\u201d teenager after her death on a solo hike in rugged NSW bushland gripped Australia.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old’s body was tragically discovered on Thursday August 20, in an isolated part of Nattai National Park, south-west of Sydney, after an eight-day multi-agency search.<\/p>\n

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns vowed to do “something special”<\/a> in memory of the teenage hiker, which has resulted in the Harbour Bridge pylons being bathed in vibrant purple.<\/p>\n

Lily Hooper worked as a Sydney BridgeClimb guide, taking tourists on climbs across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.<\/p>\n

Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb issued a statement saying Lily was \u201can absolute delight from the moment she joined and lit up every space with her smile and enthusiasm\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was compassionate, a friend to all, motivated and had a positive impact on everyone she connected with,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer loss is felt deeply throughout our team, and Lily\u2019s family and loved ones are in our thoughts and our hearts, today and always.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager was a fixture across local sporting and community groups training in martial arts.<\/p>\n

Hooper\u2019s high school, which she graduated from in 2025, Campbelltown Performing Arts, remembered her as a \u201ckind, humorous and respectful young woman who lit up every room with her infectious smile, positive energy and determination to live life to its fullest\u201d, reported The Guardian.<\/a><\/p>\n

The search for the 18-year-old involved up to 1,000 personnel over eight days, including NSW Police, SES volunteers, the Australian Defence Force and other emergency services.<\/p>\n

Ms Hooper had last been seen leaving a home on Burragorang Road in Oakdale about 8am on August 12.<\/p>\n

A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed the body was airlifted<\/a> from the bushland in Nattai National Park on Friday, August 21.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

It came after a heartbreaking miscommunication regarding Ms Hooper’s condition, with reports initially stating she was found alive before her parents were told minutes later that she was dead.<\/p>\n

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon apologised<\/a>\u00a0\u201cunreservedly\u201d to the family over the miscommunication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Harbour Bridge pylons have been lit up in purple as 18-year-old bushwalker Lily Hooper’s family laid her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[40816,129648,46517,18453,145613,145622,5609,6257,46779,95761,144542,80941,36695,145617,110710,38094,97074,134243,138492,88236,144503,50625,37726,145637,77816,145625,145620,117137,106953,78518,71874,23,145629,3791,145619,145626,145618,13457,18916,145614,70684,90801,117124,145628,3052,66549,9715,43934,57213,117092,145635,145631,44568,145623,20483,52,114519,117130,117104,3430,104921,99945,145621,80086,3401,77236,45238,99944,104912,99947,129211,145624,145639,2021,85111,99946,145630,48948,42903,63735,34917,8497,117147,61570,3079,144552,97326,20591,84870,1561,247,145611,145627,145634,45786,73090,38083,145615,36700,29673,119763,145610,145638,37772,36692,145633,41882,145632,145636,45773,7444,31666,19449,145612,145616,4382],"class_list":["post-87113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-s-family","tag-s-high-school","tag-s-southwest","tag-harbour-bridge","tag-000-personnel","tag-18-year-old-bushwalker-lily-hooper","tag-5609","tag-6257","tag-8am","tag-a-kind","tag-a-chapel","tag-a-fixture","tag-a-friend","tag-a-heartbreaking-miscommunication","tag-a-hike","tag-a-home","tag-a-large-crowd","tag-a-national-park","tag-a-nsw-police-spokesperson","tag-a-positive-impact","tag-a-solo-hike","tag-a-spokesperson","tag-a-statement","tag-a-sydney-bridgeclimb-guide","tag-a-tribute","tag-an-absolute-delight","tag-an-eight-day-multi-agency-search","tag-an-isolated-part","tag-august-12","tag-august-20","tag-august-21","tag-australia","tag-beloved-bushwalker-lily-hooper","tag-body","tag-burragorang-road","tag-campbelltown-performing-arts","tag-climbs","tag-condition","tag-damian-shaw","tag-damian-shaw-lily-hooper","tag-determination","tag-eight-days","tag-every-room","tag-every-space","tag-family","tag-farewell","tag-friday","tag-her-body","tag-her-death","tag-her-infectious-smile","tag-her-life-bushwalking","tag-her-loss","tag-her-parents","tag-her-smile-and-enthusiasm","tag-hiking","tag-home","tag-hooper","tag-humorous-and-respectful-young-woman","tag-its-fullest","tag-life","tag-lily","tag-lily-hooper","tag-local-sporting-and-community-groups","tag-loved-ones","tag-martial-arts","tag-memory","tag-minutes","tag-missing-hiker","tag-ms-hooper","tag-nattai-national-park","tag-new-south-wales-premier-chris-minns","tag-nsw-bushland","tag-nsw-bushwalker-lily-hooper","tag-nsw-police","tag-nsw-police-commissioner-mal-lanyon","tag-oakdale","tag-other-emergency-services","tag-our-hearts","tag-our-team","tag-our-thoughts","tag-picture","tag-police-commissioner","tag-positive-energy","tag-purple","tag-reports","tag-rugged-nsw-bushland","tag-september-3","tag-ses-volunteers","tag-something-special","tag-south-west","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-harbour-bridge-pylons","tag-sydney-harbour-bridgeclimb","tag-the-fearless-teenager","tag-the-18-year-old","tag-the-australian-defence-force","tag-the-body","tag-the-bushland","tag-the-family","tag-the-guardian","tag-the-harbour-bridge","tag-the-harbour-bridge-pylons","tag-the-miscommunication","tag-the-moment","tag-the-search","tag-the-south-west","tag-the-sydney-harbour-bridge","tag-the-sydney-harbour-bridge-southern-pylon","tag-the-teenage-hiker","tag-the-teenager","tag-thursday","tag-today","tag-tourists","tag-up-to-1","tag-vibrant-purple","tag-young-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}